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Why We Are Not Surprised? Air France Recorder Found, but Missing Its Memory

Nicola Clark
The New York Times
Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:58 UTC

Comment: In THIS article we wrote that "what ever happened to The Airbus 320-303 was a big tragedy, and finding an explanation including providing a needed closure is a priority. But considering what we know about authorities' ability to either ignore or distort the available data, we are a bit skeptical if the highly probable cause will ever be seriously looked into, and especially announced. Meanwhile, time is running out for another similar disaster to occur".

And now, it appears that due to the supposedly "dissociated" memory module of the plane's flight data recorder we may never know what really happened. At least from the official point of view. Didn't we tell you not to hold your breath?

The investigation into what caused the crash of an Air France jet two years ago suffered a major setback, officials said Wednesday, when search crews in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean located one of the plane's black boxes - only to discover that its memory unit was missing.

Martine Del Bono, a spokesman for France's Bureau of Accident Investigations, said the memory module of the plane's flight data recorder - which contains information on the plane's position, speed, altitude and heading when it ran into trouble - had been "dissociated" from its protective housing. "This is no doubt due to the shock of impact with the water," she said.

French investigators said the recorder was located by underwater drones late Tuesday, surrounded by debris from other parts of the airplane. The search continued Wednesday for the missing component, as well as for a second black box, which contains recordings of the conversations in the cockpit in the minutes before the crash.

But Ms. Del Bono conceded that the failure to find the data recorder's memory unit was a disappointment. "We would have hoped that it had remained intact," she said.

All 228 passengers and crew members were killed when Flight 447 went down on June 1, 2009.

It crashed in a thunderstorm en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro.

Flight recorders are designed to resist the effects of impact, corrosion and pressure. Investigators declined to say Wednesday whether, without its protective housing, the data module - if found - would be sufficiently readable to advance the investigation.

Reader Comments

Muadhib · 2011-04-28T11:00:55Z

Probably a Hit

My view is that the arms control activists on the flight were the target. "THE SECRET HISTORY OF AIRPLANE SABOTAGE" By Sherman Skolnick is a history of the taking down of commercial flights as part of a hit. Sherman continues to fight for our freedom from the grave: [Link]

JGeropoulas · 2011-04-28T21:25:25Z

The problem with a planted-bomb theory--in this particular case--is that the passenger injuries reported were broken bones and no burns, suggesting there was no explosion. There's only one explanation of how an airplane could have simply been torn apart in the atmosphere, resulting in mostly impact type injuries from the concussive forces.

To read the details of the only feasible explanation, read "What Are The Hiding--Flight 447 and Tunguska-Type Events" (linked below and in the intro above):
[Link]

avatarian · 2011-04-29T02:01:53Z

The hit...

could have been a purely technological type where the on-board computor was intercepted or pre-programmed to cut out and the aircaft just dropped into the sea causing all those impact injuries.

Not messy and pobably not now traceable - big airbus are pretty solid things are they not? and for a pilot to fly through a storm is a non event, even with turbulence they change altitude or go around...

GRiM · 2011-04-29T02:23:43Z

Blackbox

/ Well its not like they are built to surive crashes....*sarcasm*

Using three layers of materials, the CSMU in a solid-state black box insulates and protects the stack of memory boards that store the digitized information. We will talk more about the memory and electronics in the next section. Here's a closer look at the materials that provide a barrier for the memory boards, starting at the innermost barrier and working our way outward:

Aluminum housing - There is a thin layer of aluminum around the stack of memory cards.
High-temperature insulation - This dry-silica material is 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick and provides high-temperature thermal protection. This is what keeps the memory boards safe during post-accident fires.
Stainless-steel shell- The high-temperature insulation material is contained within a stainless-steel cast shell that is about 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) thick. Titanium can be used to create this outer armor as well.
-------------

Testing a CSMU

To ensure the quality and survivability of black boxes, manufacturers thoroughly test the CSMUs. Remember, only the CSMU has to survive a crash -- if accident investigators have that, they can retrieve the information they need. In order to test the unit, engineers load data onto the memory boards inside the CSMU. L-3 Communications uses a random pattern to put data onto every memory board. This pattern is reviewed on readout to determine if any of the data has been damaged by crash impact, fires or pressure.

There are several tests that make up the crash-survival sequence:

Crash impact - Researchers shoot the CSMU down an air cannon to create an impact of 3,400 Gs (1 G is the force of Earth's gravity, which determines how much something weighs). At 3,400 Gs, the CSMU hits an aluminum, honeycomb target at a force equal to 3,400 times its weight. This impact force is equal to or in excess of what a recorder might experience in an actual crash.
Pin drop - To test the unit's penetration resistance, researchers drop a 500-pound (227-kg) weight with a 0.25-inch steel pin protruding from the bottom onto the CSMU from a height of 10 feet (3 m). This pin, with 500-pounds behind it, impacts the CSMU cylinder's most vulnerable axis.
Static crush - For five minutes, researchers apply 5,000 pounds per square-inch (psi) of crush force to each of the unit's six major axis points.
Fire test - Researchers place the unit into a propane-source fireball, cooking it using three burners. The unit sits inside the fire at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 C) for one hour. The FAA requires that all solid-state recorders be able to survive at least one hour at this temperature.
Deep-sea submersion - The CSMU is placed into a pressurized tank of salt water for 24 hours.
Salt-water submersion - The CSMU must survive in a salt water tank for 30 days.
Fluid immersion - Various CSMU components are placed into a variety of aviation fluids, including jet fuel, lubricants and fire-extinguisher chemicals.

During the fire test, the memory interface cable that attaches the memory boards to the circuit board is burned away. After the unit cools down, researchers take it apart and pull the memory module out. They restack the memory boards, install a new memory interface cable and attach the unit to a readout system to verify that all of the preloaded data is accounted for.

Black boxes are usually sold directly to and installed by the airplane manufacturers. Both black boxes are installed in the tail of the plane -- putting them in the back of the aircraft increases their chances of survival. The precise location of the recorders depends on the individual plane. Sometimes they are located in the ceiling of the galley, in the aft cargo hold or in the tail cone that covers the rear of the aircraft.

Source:[Link]

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Why We Are Not Surprised? Air France Recorder Found, but Missing Its Memory

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